’In the future days, u'hich ire seek to secure, ire look forward to a worldJounded upon four essential human freedoms; the first Is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God In his own way—everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want—The fourth is freedom from fear." ---President Franklin D. Roosevelt

THE thirst for freedom is one of the basic instincts of mankind. The ever- . rebellious Prometheus to Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela everybody voiced their desire to be free not only physically but also spiritually. The eternal conflict between the oppressor and the oppressed has find its finest expression in the creative arts.

The 3rd solo painting exhibition by Abhijit Chowdhury at the Alliance Francaise de Dhaka had the same theme as any other freedom-loving artist. The exhibition ended yesterday. Abhijit exhibited his 30 recent paintings all done in black and white. Titled Black and White Days' the works at the show and their lack of colour made the immediacy of the moment felt more strongly.

The artist chose March, the month that witnessed the declaration freedom in 1971, intentionally to synchronize his theme freedom. The freedom of men in their everyday life, the struggle of an Individual searching his identity, all found their way into his work.

Abhijit played with space to unfold his imagination through his paintings.

Boni In 1967 at Habigonj. he completed his MFA in drawing and painting from the Institute of Fine Arts. Dhaka University.

"An urgency from within chases me all the way." states the artist and his works are the testimony to this pronouncement. In his Assault-71’ a woman s naked body can be made out of the patterns the artist created on the canvas.

The face is not clear but the blurry image of the woman reminds one of those dark days that chained our cherished freedom.

The most fascinating thing about Abhijit s painting is his use of geometric patterns. His use of straight lines makes his works starker. He leaves space and fills some with darkness and lets the Imagination of the viewer to fill those blanks and understand the true meaning of (he piece.

Shapes round, quadrangular triangular and many more finds their way' in' Freedom-2* another painting by Abhijit. He leaves a large portion of his

canvas white, some are filled up with gray and some are dark black. The different shapes evoke a mixed emotion regarding freedom. What has freedom given us? What have we done with our freedom? Did we really achieve freedom? The questions come fluttering in when one stands in front of his works.

Abhijit had two more solo exhibitions in his credit, one in 1995 titled. ’Sound, Light Colour’ at the Institute of Fine Arts and the second was in the. Alliance Francaise de Dhaka in 1999. He has also participated in various exhibitions.